Levi’s® Goes Eco-friendly with Water‹Less Jeans Collection

During the production process, a typical pair of jeans are “finished” in large washing machines and dryers to create a unique look and feel. Using traditional garment washing methods, the average pair of jeans undergoes 3 to 10 washing cycles – adding up to approximately 42 liters of water per unit. The Water‹Less jeans collection from Levi’s reduces the water consumption by an average of 28% and up to 96% for some new products in the line.

Levi’s Water‹Less jeans have reduced the water consumption in the finishing process by making simple changes to the process. For example:
• Reducing the number of washing machine cycles by combining multiple wet cycle processes into a single wet process
• Incorporating ozone processing into the garment washing
• Removing the water from the stone wash

The first collection of Water‹Less products became available in January of 2011 and included over a dozen classic Levi’s styles, including the Levi’s 501® jeans and the popular 511 and 514 jeans, as well as the Levi’s trucker jacket. The line also includes jeans made with brand’s traditional rigid finish which, by its nature, utilizes virtually no water in its production.

The Levi’s spring 2011 product lines, containing more than 1.5 million pairs of jeans with the Water‹Less method, saved approximately 16 million liters of water. Since the introduction of the Water‹Less collection, Levi’s has saved 156 million liters of water around the world. To put it into perspective, that’s 60 million days of drinking water for communities in need.

Water‹Less is just one way the Levi’s brand is working to reduce the environmental impact of its products. Recent Levi Strauss & Co. research shows that during the life cycle of a pair of Levi’s 501 jeans, the largest water impact comes from the cotton growing process and through the laundry habits of consumers after they leave our stores. As a company, Levi Strauss & Co. is making strides in these key areas – from supporting more sustainable ways to grow cotton to monitoring how suppliers use water in the manufacturing process.

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